Lots of manure here on the farm which I compost…but turning manure piles is a pain and you can forget…and if they get too hot can catch on fire/spontaneously combust.

So last year I experimented making manure ‘patties’ with manure and hay or straw like I have seen done in India and other countries where you see them stuck to walls to dry or huge bunches of them laid out to dry. Of course its the fuel millions around the world use- but I wanted to try it. Then I decided this fall to make manure bricks so I built a frame to make a bunch at one time, loaded the ‘mold’ up and commenced.

So tonight I decided to start a fire in the woodstove with them (I have read not to use with firestarters) and wow. Who knew? Great fire. And I don’t have to think twice about putting that ash on the gardens either.

Also took a class once where the guy advocated using dried dung/pellets to start fires with. Did it pretty fast with a magnifying glass and a piece of dried horse manure.

Just thought I’d mention this to keep in mind as alternative fuel…especially if you have a spell where you need a fire/heat and either don’t have the tools, the strength …or the source of wood.

74 – I made them from horse manure simply because it was easiest. With the winter begun, I bring the horses in to the barn twice a day, groom them, check their feet, feed a bit of grain and then blanket and/or un-blanket them. Of course, as soon as they hit a stall they poop and pee like crazy even in a short amount of time. So….easy collection. I’d have to go out in the fields and collect cow manure.

Apparently it doesn’t matter which is used, although cow manure reeks to handle it. There is a guy developed a machine that makes bricks and is selling them (much like the compressed sawdust bricks you can buy)

Of yeah, I LMAO when I saw the ads for the ‘Northern Manure Expo’ – who knew.
In some countries you see them stuck, drying all over everything, including trees. In my old age it might be easier than lugging wood!